The participation of basolateral amygdala in the efficacy of acupuncture with deqi treating for functional dyspepsia

This study aimed to explore the central influence ofdeqi on the efficacy of acupuncture for functional dyspepsia (FD). 70 FD patients were randomized to receive 20 sessions ’ acupuncture treatment with (n = 35) and withoutdeqi (n  = 35). In each group, 25 FD patients randomly selected underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans before and after treatment. After group re-division according todeqi response, changes of amygdala subregions-based resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) were compared between the acupuncture with and without obviousdeqi group. The clinical changes of the Nepean Dyspepsia Symptom Index (NDSI) measuring FD symptoms were also used to further assess the correlation with amygdala subregions rsFC in FD patients. The decrease in the NDSI scores (pre-pos) in the obviousdeqi group was significantly greater than that in the acupuncture without obviousdeqi group (p <  0.05). Compared to the without obviousdeqi group, the obviousdeqi group showed significantly decreased the left basolateral amygdala (BLA) rsFC with bilateral insular (INS), putamen and middle/posterior cingulate cortex (MCC/PCC), right pallidum and hippocampus (HIPP) after treatment. The changed NDSI scores(pre-post) of all 41 FD patients was significantly positively correlated with their Fisher ’s transformed z value of the left BLA rsFC with left INS (r = 0.376, FDR correctedp = 0.015), and rsFC with right HIPP (r = 0.394, FDR correctedp =...
Source: Brain Imaging and Behavior - Category: Neurology Source Type: research